Paradox
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Chip Morrison and I climbed to the summit crater of Mount Rainier in Washington State this past Thursday morning 6/5/08. The following was written partly as a request by the local newspaper The Plymouth Record Enterprise but is presented here for the first, and I welcome your comments.
The Mountain
Mount Rainier is a stratovolcano in Washington State about 50 miles Southeast of Seattle. Viewing Mount Rainier from the air on the flight into Seattle was a wonderful experience. For first the four hours of the flight, the passengers on the airliner were relatively quiet with only the ever present monotonous hum of the jet engines making any impression. Mount Adams came into view to the passengers on the left side of the aircraft first. People in window seats, pointed it out to others next to them and there is a notable change in the tone and tenor of the crowd as people crane their necks to get a look and talk louder and more excitedly. The more distant and smaller Mount Hood in Oregon is next into view, but doesn’t impress like Adams. Many assume that Adams is Rainier and start to believe that the show is over. But then the awe truly begins as Rainier comes into view, closer than Adams, and at 14,410’ it dwarfs everything the eye can see. The other stratovolcanos visible are Mount Baker to the NNW at 10,781’, Glacier Peak is North at 10,541’, Mount Adams is SSW at 12,277’, Mount Hood is South in Oregon at 11,240’, and Mount St. Helens is SSW at 8,363’.
From the ground, everything around Rainier is huge. Chip aptly described the plentiful Douglas Fir trees as “freakishly tall” with trunks as much as 6’ around. I subsequently found that Doug Firs can reach heights of almost 400’. The cedars are almost as large. The Tatoosh Mountain Range to the South of Rainier has mountains over 6,500’. The snow drifts at Paradise ( 5,500’ elevation) were still 6’ high on the third of June. The porous layers of red, lava rock of the Cathedral Rock ridge on Rainier are clearly different from the solid, grey, granite of our beloved Mount Washington. One has to hike well above treeline to view these 400’ tall spines of rock and getting up close is a very humbling experience. Rainier is glaciated, with cravasses 200’ deep and wide, and seracs bigger than buses.
International Mountain Guides
Climbing Mount Rainier is certainly not of the undertaking of a Himalayan Peak, Mt. McKinley, etc. and is often considered an excellent training climb for those considering higher, more unforgiving peaks. Rainier is high enough to offer a thinner atmosphere and has a few miles of glaciers on all sides It is the fifth highest mountain in the lower 48 states, 84 feet lower than Mount Whitney in California. Hence, it can be a killer, with an annual death toll of three to five people. There are three organizations that guide groups up the mountain. Early on Chip and I decided that we would use a guide service to make logistics easier, the trip safer, and to increase our chances of reaching the summit. We chose International Mountain Guides (IMG) over the more well known Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI), largely because IMG offered a two day mountaineering course that fit into our tight schedule.
Guides Chris Meder and Greg Vernovage taught the mountaineering course to ten students of diverse backgrounds, experience, and expectations in a well paced, professional, and fun manner. We learned: knots, their philosophy of minimal multitask equipment, crevasse rescue including self rescue, snow anchors, pulley systems and ice axe use/self arrest techniques. There was ample opportunity to practice all of it. It was clear that Chris and Greg are dedicated, passionate teachers that work well together and are easy and fun to learn from. After this we were very happy we had chosen IMG.
Physical Conditioning
When one conceives an undertaking such as this there is always the nagging question “Can I do this?” We probably wouldn’t do a lot of things if we did not have this question in our heads. This trip was conceived about 8 months before we left, hence we had plenty of time to get in good physical shape. This included weight lifting, treadmill running, stair climbing, cycling, running, winter hiking in the Whites, and weight loss (I dropped from 235# to 220# for my 6’3” frame). There is a DVD available on getting in shape to hike Rainier. The important point to be made is that you must be in shape if you want to A.) summit and descend safely and B.) enjoy your time on the mountain.
The seven that showed up for our scheduled three day summit attempt illustrates the above. One fellow was not visibly out of shape, but admitted he had not done much for the past six months since he had hiked Kilimanjaro. He quit Mount Rainier after only a mile. Another was clearly overweight, out of shape, and he admitted it. He was able to make it to Camp Muir at 10,000’ but was totally spent and miserable by the time he got there an hour behind Chip and me. He went no further. Another was on National Ski Patrol and had done some cycling, but described no organized exercise program. He made the summit but had a very difficult time of it and made it known that he was not feeling good at all.
I feel I have a pretty good test of how well a New Englander will do on Rainier (via Paradise, Camp Muir, and Disappointment Cleaver). Complete a Presidential Range Traverse in good weather at least 5 weeks before you leave for Washington State. Of course, you will be tired when you finish, but you should not be totally spent. I got up the next morning knowing that I could finish another traverse should I choose. There is almost 9000’ of elevation gain and 18+ miles of hiking to both Rainier and the Presi-Traverse. The only thing you will not know is how you will react to less oxygen at 14K+ of altitude. As it turned out, the altitude was not an issue for Chip or me.
The mountaineering course ended on Saturday evening and Chip and I had two days to kill. We decided to hike the 4 miles from Paradise at 5500’ to Camp Muir at 10000’, hang out for a while, enjoy the views, and breath some oxygen depleted air for a while. It took us a smidge over four hours to get to up there and about 1:40 to get down. The weather was in the mid-forties with no wind at all. Overcast skies made for very warm hiking as we rose into the clouds quickly and had only 500’ visibility for most of the way up. I was my usual cautious self with the UV protection on my face, wrists and hands. So I thought! It was so warm that I had to undo the side leg zips on my soft-shell pants never giving it a thought. The sunburn I received on the side of my knees and thighs was very painful and woke me up that night. It still hurts, more than a week later.
The Mountain
Mount Rainier is a stratovolcano in Washington State about 50 miles Southeast of Seattle. Viewing Mount Rainier from the air on the flight into Seattle was a wonderful experience. For first the four hours of the flight, the passengers on the airliner were relatively quiet with only the ever present monotonous hum of the jet engines making any impression. Mount Adams came into view to the passengers on the left side of the aircraft first. People in window seats, pointed it out to others next to them and there is a notable change in the tone and tenor of the crowd as people crane their necks to get a look and talk louder and more excitedly. The more distant and smaller Mount Hood in Oregon is next into view, but doesn’t impress like Adams. Many assume that Adams is Rainier and start to believe that the show is over. But then the awe truly begins as Rainier comes into view, closer than Adams, and at 14,410’ it dwarfs everything the eye can see. The other stratovolcanos visible are Mount Baker to the NNW at 10,781’, Glacier Peak is North at 10,541’, Mount Adams is SSW at 12,277’, Mount Hood is South in Oregon at 11,240’, and Mount St. Helens is SSW at 8,363’.
From the ground, everything around Rainier is huge. Chip aptly described the plentiful Douglas Fir trees as “freakishly tall” with trunks as much as 6’ around. I subsequently found that Doug Firs can reach heights of almost 400’. The cedars are almost as large. The Tatoosh Mountain Range to the South of Rainier has mountains over 6,500’. The snow drifts at Paradise ( 5,500’ elevation) were still 6’ high on the third of June. The porous layers of red, lava rock of the Cathedral Rock ridge on Rainier are clearly different from the solid, grey, granite of our beloved Mount Washington. One has to hike well above treeline to view these 400’ tall spines of rock and getting up close is a very humbling experience. Rainier is glaciated, with cravasses 200’ deep and wide, and seracs bigger than buses.
International Mountain Guides
Climbing Mount Rainier is certainly not of the undertaking of a Himalayan Peak, Mt. McKinley, etc. and is often considered an excellent training climb for those considering higher, more unforgiving peaks. Rainier is high enough to offer a thinner atmosphere and has a few miles of glaciers on all sides It is the fifth highest mountain in the lower 48 states, 84 feet lower than Mount Whitney in California. Hence, it can be a killer, with an annual death toll of three to five people. There are three organizations that guide groups up the mountain. Early on Chip and I decided that we would use a guide service to make logistics easier, the trip safer, and to increase our chances of reaching the summit. We chose International Mountain Guides (IMG) over the more well known Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI), largely because IMG offered a two day mountaineering course that fit into our tight schedule.
Guides Chris Meder and Greg Vernovage taught the mountaineering course to ten students of diverse backgrounds, experience, and expectations in a well paced, professional, and fun manner. We learned: knots, their philosophy of minimal multitask equipment, crevasse rescue including self rescue, snow anchors, pulley systems and ice axe use/self arrest techniques. There was ample opportunity to practice all of it. It was clear that Chris and Greg are dedicated, passionate teachers that work well together and are easy and fun to learn from. After this we were very happy we had chosen IMG.
Physical Conditioning
When one conceives an undertaking such as this there is always the nagging question “Can I do this?” We probably wouldn’t do a lot of things if we did not have this question in our heads. This trip was conceived about 8 months before we left, hence we had plenty of time to get in good physical shape. This included weight lifting, treadmill running, stair climbing, cycling, running, winter hiking in the Whites, and weight loss (I dropped from 235# to 220# for my 6’3” frame). There is a DVD available on getting in shape to hike Rainier. The important point to be made is that you must be in shape if you want to A.) summit and descend safely and B.) enjoy your time on the mountain.
The seven that showed up for our scheduled three day summit attempt illustrates the above. One fellow was not visibly out of shape, but admitted he had not done much for the past six months since he had hiked Kilimanjaro. He quit Mount Rainier after only a mile. Another was clearly overweight, out of shape, and he admitted it. He was able to make it to Camp Muir at 10,000’ but was totally spent and miserable by the time he got there an hour behind Chip and me. He went no further. Another was on National Ski Patrol and had done some cycling, but described no organized exercise program. He made the summit but had a very difficult time of it and made it known that he was not feeling good at all.
I feel I have a pretty good test of how well a New Englander will do on Rainier (via Paradise, Camp Muir, and Disappointment Cleaver). Complete a Presidential Range Traverse in good weather at least 5 weeks before you leave for Washington State. Of course, you will be tired when you finish, but you should not be totally spent. I got up the next morning knowing that I could finish another traverse should I choose. There is almost 9000’ of elevation gain and 18+ miles of hiking to both Rainier and the Presi-Traverse. The only thing you will not know is how you will react to less oxygen at 14K+ of altitude. As it turned out, the altitude was not an issue for Chip or me.
The mountaineering course ended on Saturday evening and Chip and I had two days to kill. We decided to hike the 4 miles from Paradise at 5500’ to Camp Muir at 10000’, hang out for a while, enjoy the views, and breath some oxygen depleted air for a while. It took us a smidge over four hours to get to up there and about 1:40 to get down. The weather was in the mid-forties with no wind at all. Overcast skies made for very warm hiking as we rose into the clouds quickly and had only 500’ visibility for most of the way up. I was my usual cautious self with the UV protection on my face, wrists and hands. So I thought! It was so warm that I had to undo the side leg zips on my soft-shell pants never giving it a thought. The sunburn I received on the side of my knees and thighs was very painful and woke me up that night. It still hurts, more than a week later.
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Like -I told you both, you would be fine condition wise, its a challenge, but one easily done with proper conditioning and skills. w/o views the true summit is no big deal - long flat half mile walk though the crater. you didn't miss anything. 
